Harry Potter and His Resignation
by Hexadecimal666
Summary: Hermione left Harry Potter after the final battle. Harry finds her years later in Africa, battered and abused, with a daughter of her own. And Hermione still asks him to leave. Spin-off bunny from a Portkey story.


Normal disclaimers apply – the subjects that this fan-fiction is based on is not my original work but J.K. Rowlings. I don't do this for fame, glory, or cash – just fun. Brownies wouldn't hurt.

So like "Missing Contract" (which was also a wake up in the middle of the night what is running through my head plot bunny), this is also based off a fan-fic on Portkey. .org/story/8265/9, by Amynoelle and Heaven. The premise remains the same through Chapter 9, Torn, when Harry, instead of meekly accepting being slapped around (which really drives me up the wall) finally snaps back into someone with a spine.

The other thing I really don't like about the story that this is based on is that anyone who accepts the premise that Hermione Granger would be a battered woman is sadly mistaken. She would feed you your genitalia with hot sauce on the side. Contract or no contract. Obliviate fixes the world. That being said, I'm leaving Hermione intact, or at least as intact as a novice writer as I am can, from the story.

Don't get me wrong. I like the original story. I just find the basic premise very difficult to accept. You WILL need to have read the story to even pick-up where I am, and who some of the characters are.

And in retrospect, I probably should have let the author(s) finish the original story before I posted this. My apologies if it takes away from what they've done, or where they're going.

From "Torn":

Hermione motioned for Harry to follow her back to his table. He took this as a positive sign, until he saw the look in her eyes.

"I know all too well about your 'saving people thing'," Hermione said bitterly. "But I'm not yours to save, Harry!"

He tried to argue but she put her hand up. "I told you to leave me and my family alone. Tonight is my night with my daughter."

"Did you have to clear it with him before you came out tonight?" Harry asked, starting to get angry himself. All he wanted to do was help her and she was treating HIM like the bad guy.

"Leave us be," Hermione warned him. "You can't do anything this time, Harry."

"What happened in France?" Harry asked her point blank.

"Goodbye, Harry." Hermione turned away.

"I know he was arrested," Harry said. "I bet you know why, too."

"Leave it!" Hermione snapped.

"Is this man bothering you, miss?" a waiter asked Hermione.

Hermione shook her head. "No, we're done here."

My turn:

Hermione heard a cold voice follow hers. "We're _almost_ done here."

Incensed, Hermione turned to see the fire in Harry's green eyes almost spilling out onto the floor. Too late, she'd forgotten whom she was dealing with and that Harry wasn't just some schoolboy any longer.

The waiter tried to get Harry to sit back down, but a gesture from Harry and the waiter suddenly remembered he had other things to do, and had forgotten entirely about Hermione. The casual display, and without a wand, reminded Hermione that yet again she was not in the position of power, a feeling all too common with Damian.

Sparks quietly flew from Harry's fingertips as he peremptorily gestured for her to sit. For a moment, meekly, Hermione did.

"You want me to go away, for this to be goodbye, then it's done, Hermione. I could never refuse you. You're a free woman, throw away your life if that's what you want. I won't try to help again. Enjoy the next three weeks while you can. In the meantime, call Bella over here for a moment."

With a gasp, Hermione realized that Harry had arranged for her brief interlude of peace, but still she held back the one thing she'd managed to salvage from her marriage.

"Bella has nothing to do with this, with us, Harry."

"No, she doesn't. More's the pity. But you can only refuse help for yourself. I am free to offer my help wherever I choose, to save whomever I choose. Bring Bella here, now, and let us be done."

Hermione had never seen Harry so angry or so cold. But she knew that Harry could never hurt a child. Taking a chance, she waved at Bella to come join them.

"Mummy?"

Harry's gaze immediately softened as he looked at Bella. "Bella, your mother has asked me to go away. I'm not going to be around anymore, and I'm sorry for that. Before I left, I wanted you to have something."

Harry slid over a small business card with gold and red print on it. He placed Bella's hand on it and whispered a small phrase that Hermione failed to hear.

"Bella, this is important. Keep this card with you wherever you go. My phone numbers are on there, they work anywhere. If you're ever in danger, don't forget to call me for help too. I'll be here."

"Harry, I won't let her call you…"

"And one day, you may not be able to help her – or stop him. Your freedom to be foolish stops at you. No child should have to live with this. And no woman has to either. No police force in the world would let him do what he's doing. " Harry's voice cracked with rage.

"And what can you do, Harry? The courts … "

"Don't mean anything if they cannot find her… or him."

Turning back to Bella, Harry said, "I promise you, Bella. Ask for help when you need it, and it's yours."

Harry pulled out a small digital camera and with a small grin said, "Now smile for your grandparents. They've never seen such a pretty face." Harry took a quick few pictures and checked them on the camera while Hermione sat speechless.

Hermione finally sputtered "So now what are you going to do?"

Pocketing his camera, Harry looked at her grimly and said, "What you want me to do. I'm leaving. I won't be back; you can throw your life away if that's what you want. I'm going to take these pictures to your mother who hasn't seen her granddaughter. I'm going to send someone else to work in the school and continue what I've been doing."

Taking Hermione's hand in his, Harry gave it a quick squeeze. "Hermione, I don't know what hold he has on you, or on Bella. What I do know is that one photograph and Tilly's confirmation of what I saw yesterday would nullify all of that in any court in any country. I don't even need to be involved. Even if I weren't your friend, I wouldn't wish what you're doing on anyone."

Standing up, Harry pushed in his chair and pulled out some of the local currency and left it on the table. "Enjoy your meal, it's paid for, last meal and all that. Sorry to disrupt your evening out on your night of freedom. Bella, you know where to find me."

"Harry?" queried Bella quietly.

"Yes, Bella?"

"You'll really come if I call?"

"I'll really come, Bella. I'll be here quick as a wink. Call me anytime."

Harry left the table, went to the dancing couple on the floor, and said his goodnights. As he left the restaurant, she heard a very loud crack from outside. Tears fell silently from her eyes, unremarked upon by a suddenly more knowledgeable, and more hopeful, Bella.

"Cho?"

"Harry, thank Merlin I got you. Do I have to keep this guy here any longer? He's smart as a whip, but I swear he's a train wreck waiting to happen. Half of the nursing staff has complained, and I can tell you we've got a pretty tolerant staff. He's got a terrible temper."

"I know. I'm sorry for your staff, I didn't think he would be the same outside of here. I'll send an endowment to their retirement fund and you'll get some study funding out of it." With a grimace, Harry finally said "Cut him loose."

Damian arrived home half-drunk from airplane liquor and enraged. While Tilly shrank into the kitchen, Damian almost literally tossed the living room. Shards from the various knick-knacks flew violently around the room.

"I hope they all get St. Louis Encephalitis! How dare their nurses complain about me! Wishy-washy pampered people don't know what real work is, or how to get to it! Their doctors are all imbeciles!" Damian roared.

Hermione had just entered the room, trembling. It was going to be a bad night, she could tell. She hoped it wouldn't last long.

"Hermione! This is all your fault!" Damian raged. Without even a shouting warm-up, his closed fist snapped her head back viciously, leaving a taste of blood in her mouth and stars in her eyes. Damian grabbed her arm and dragged her like a rag doll up to their bedroom, not caring how she bounced off the walls along the way.

Inside the bedroom, it only got worse. With one eye already closed, Hermione couldn't roll or dodge much. Damian's fists hammered her stomach and ribs, her arms were twisted as she was thrown around the room. Finally, mercifully, she passed out, Damian's roars echoing in her ears. Her last sight was the small digital camera that Bella sometimes used being secreted away by her daughter, and her internal shriek of terror at what that might mean if Damian caught Bella with the camera.

"Oh please, oh please, help us Harry", whimpered Bella as she dug the beautiful red and gold business card out of her pocket to look for the phone numbers. She hoped he picked up the phone, but as she got to the phone number she read "Nitwit… Oddment… Blubber… Tweak?"

The card grew warm in Bella's hand, and she dropped it quickly. It quickly grew into a doorway, and from that doorway came a very oddly dressed Harry Potter. He was in heavy robes like she had sometimes seen on church ladies and priests that came to the orphanage. They appeared to be made of some type of black scale. He had a silver badge on with the letters "ICW". And in his hand was a red stick that he was now sweeping around the room as if looking for something to point at.

"Are you OK, Bella?" Harry asked quietly, while holding his wand on the doorway.

"… How are you here?" Bella almost shrieked. "I was just going to call you for help!"

"You called, I came", Harry said, as he glanced down at her, relieved to find no marks on Bella. "Now speak quietly, I assume you didn't call me for a happy reason."

Working past the shock of a fully-grown Harry Potter in her bedroom, Bella held out the digital camera she'd snuck over to her parents' bedroom when Damian had come home. With a grim look on his face, Harry reviewed the photos on the panel on the back. The room seemed to get colder and colder the longer he took.

"There's one rule tonight, Bella. You have to be truthful with me and I have to be truthful with you. Can you promise me to tell the truth?" asked Harry, now down on his knees and looking sternly at her.

"Yes, I can do that."

"Are you hurt physically in any way?" asked Harry.

"No… he never touched me", whimpered Bella.

"I have to be sure we're talking about the same he, Bella. The man in these pictures looks like the man I know as your father, Damian Conaghan. He appears to be striking your mother Hermione. Is this the case?" asked Harry.

"… Yes, Harry."

Harry sighed and took Bella's hands. "This is an important question, Bella. Please think about it before you answer. Do you feel safe here at home with your father?" asked Harry.

With a silent tear sliding down her cheek, Bella proved herself Hermione Granger's daughter in both bravery and knowledge. "I've never been safe with him."

A very drunken Damian was surprised to hear a knock at his bedroom door. With a shouted roar of "Not now, Tilly!" He went back to nursing his drink and eyeing the slumped over figure of his wife with contempt.

So it was with obvious surprise that he noticed the door was suddenly no longer within its frame, and that Harry Potter stood in it, with his daughter behind him.

"How dare you come in my house! Into my rooms!" Damian went even further into a rage, charging at Harry. Only he wasn't moving forward anymore, and he was swinging from the ceiling, tied up in ropes that certainly hadn't been there a moment ago and without the ability to speak.

Striding across the room without another look at Damian, Harry cast a spell to hold Hermione in her current position, then slowly levitated her to the bed. His wand traced multiple lines around her body, then he finally released her to lay her down on her back.

"Damian Conaghan. I am Harry Potter, Licensed ICW Hit-Wizard, retired. You are a Muggle, charged with the mental abuse of one Isabella Conaghan, a suspected witch, and the physical and mental abuse of one Hermione Granger, a known witch in good standing with the ICW, against strictures within the ICW Covenants for the safety and protection of magical families. You, as a Muggle, have the right to remain silent in accordance with those Covenants until judged by an ICW Council. You may waive those rights for judgment to the Hit Wizard arresting you. How do you desire to proceed?"

Suddenly able to speak again, Damian roared "There is no such thing as witches and wizards, and I will be damned if I'm going to surrender to anyone's judgment for what goes on in my own home! You have no rights here! I'll have you arrested!"

"I assure you, Mr. Conaghan, that I do have rights here. And that should you try to have me arrested under Muggle law those same Muggle police officers would shortly have the pictures of you beating your wife half to death with your child looking on. Of the two of us, I will spend less than a minute in any Muggle jail. Your stay with them would be most unpleasant. I'm almost willing to let you call them", said Harry, with a grim smile.

"But let's tackle your first couple of comments. First, I am a wizard. The fact that you have no bedroom door any longer and that you are suspended from the ceiling should help convince you of my sincerity. Hermione is a witch; I attended school with her and can vouch for her abilities. Your daughter is a suspected witch."

With this, Harry held out a hand to the doorway and Bella entered. Damian tried to speak again, to shout at his daughter, but found himself gagged again.

Harry held out another wand to Bella. "Bella, this is a wand. It's not a licensed wand, which would fit you better and allow you to cast magic. What it is is more like a light bulb and – there you go."

A small light gradually burned brighter in Bella's hands as the wand's core tapped Bella's magic.

"Preposterous! That's just a flashlight!" fumed Damian.

"Deny it however you like, Mr. Conaghan, the ICW will recognize her magic from the use of this device. Bella Conaghan is now a recognized witch in the eyes of the ICW, and the charges against you are now willful mental abuse against two witches and physical abuse against one."

With a snarl, Damian said "And what exactly are you going to do about it then? Turn me into a frog? People will want to know what happened to me, and I'll tell them!"

Harry almost laughed. "First, Mr. Conaghan, if we turned you into a frog you would NOT in fact tell them what happened. Ever. Frogs don't communicate well; they end up in bird or lizard stomachs, or sometimes in a frying pan in America. And second, people won't miss what they don't remember, should we go that far.

"Mr. Conaghan, you have a choice before you. I encourage you to consider your options, despite what as a man I would and should want to do with you. Your first option is Wizard imprisonment. You would be taken to the nearest facility and held for a period of time based on the crimes with which you are charged. I assure you they will not treat you lightly and the terms of your imprisonment will probably outlast your lifetime. Your associates will be informed of the reason for your internment, in Muggle terms. You will not be missed.

"Your second option is perhaps more humane in your eyes. You cannot remain a risk to these two witches. I will erase the memory of your time with Hermione, and the knowledge that you have a daughter. You will be further compelled to live more… harmoniously with anyone else you choose to interact with socially in the future. You will be watched.

"Finally, you are allowed to be offered a magical duel, no seconds, for the right of your freedom. As a Muggle, you would have to be extraordinarily lucky to win. I assure you, I will kill you where you stand and not mourn your loss. Despite my personal preference for a very painful ending for you, my responsibility is to encourage you not to accept this choice." Harry finished with a glare at Damian to tempt him to do otherwise.

Damian was vicious and stupid, but he didn't lack a survival instinct.

Damian awoke in his office at the hospital, a nurse banging on his door.

"Dr. Conaghan? Oh, you're awake, thank goodness. We have an emergency, could you please come help?"

"Certainly, I'll be right there. Was I here all night again?"

"Yes you were, and you need to find a good wife to take care of you! Interns work all hours of the day, not staff doctors!" exclaimed the nurse as they went on to the patient beds.

Hermione slowly came to consciousness in a familiar looking hospital ward.

"There you are dear, we were expecting you to wake soon", said Madam Pomfrey.

"I'm at Hogwarts? Where's Bella? Where's Damian? Where's Harry?" and Hermione tried to move but found that she couldn't.

"Mr. Potter brought you here for treatment. He didn't think it would be wise to take you to St. Mungo's considering how they regularly release his medical information. You'd be more talk for the tabloids. He took your daughter down to Hagrid's for tea, she's all worn out. He's got a kennel of krups at the moment for his Third Years; she'll enjoy her time with him.

"You were badly hurt, dear. I don't know how you made it. Your spleen and kidneys were all bruised. You were hemorrhaging blood in your uterus. Most of your ribs were broken. Harry was worried about a crack in your vertebrae as well, but you'll be good as new soon enough. You'll be fine. But you need to lie still and let the potions work" said Madam Pomfrey.

"Where's Damian?" asked Hermione, again.

"Mr. Potter didn't bring a Damian with him, so I don't know. He said he'd be back shortly after he got Bella settled with Hagrid. You can ask… and here he is now."

Harry's heels clicked on the stone floors of the Hospital Wing as he strode up the wing. Unlike when they were in school, she couldn't read the expression on his face.

"Hello, Hermione."

"Harry, what am I doing here? Why did you bring me here? What about Damian? Do you know what he'll do to me?"

"And the last answer first. He'll do nothing to you. He doesn't know you, he wouldn't remember your face if he saw you on the streets or in his emergency room. His entire family will have no recollection of you. He's been oblivated, the entire ICW squad has wiped the hospital, your neighbors, his colleagues – everyone we can think of or find by association. He also has a spell on him that will encourage people we didn't catch not to ask about you or Bella. In short, you will never come up in conversations with him or his family again."

"The ICW squad, what do you mean?"

"I joined the ICW briefly after Voldemort died and before I started with the foundation. I was lost and didn't have much to live for. I made sure some dark covens also didn't have much to live for. Let's leave it at I was productive for them, and I still wear my robes from time to time. Last night was one of those times that it was a pleasure, however grim, rather than a chore."

"What happened?"

"Do you remember Damian coming home and striking you?" At Hermione's tentative nod, Harry continued "Your daughter latched on to my comment at the dinner table, that a photograph and a witness would free you and her from him ever again. With courage you should be proud of, she managed to get several stunning pictures of him striking you and remain silent. Then she called me."

"How did she do that?"

"The business card I gave her. It had a protection charm – I was the guardian it would summon. She called for help and I came. And when asked if she was safe with her father, she flatly denied ever being safe. Under ICW Strictures, she could be removed from the house, her family obliviated, and a new home found for her. That is, of course, if both her parents were the problem. It was just Damian, and so you remember. Temporary custody has been granted to your parents, who are on their way to see her… and you. You will resume full custody after an ICW examination for Bella's safety and will retain permanent visitation rights in the meantime. There's nothing I can do to sweep _all_ of this under the rug but it will remain confidential, I promise."

"But how did she make the magic work?"

"She didn't have to. It's a charmed card, it responds to events, not to magic. If the user has magic at all, it works. And Bella had enough, I checked before I gave it to her. I wasn't sure she wasn't a squib, but the charm works for squibs.

"And now the rest of it. I brought you here because you were so badly beaten you might have died. I brought you here for privacy – and of course I don't think anyone's better than Madam Pomfrey…"

"I heard that, you scamp!"

"And you were supposed to after staying up all night again!

Harry coughed and continued, "I brought you here because you were in pain and because Bella needs her family. And Damian will not be allowed to be in it any longer."

"So just like that, I'm not married to him anymore. Do you realize what happens to me, to Bella, by law? I signed documents that gave him total custody of her if I ever left!"

"Hermione, only you can say you aren't married any longer. No one can make you give him up. But he won't remember you, that much I promise you. And he'll never strike you again. And as for the custody papers, what Wizarding court in the world would follow through on those papers? None of them. And they're ash anyway, the oblivation squad is damned good. The copies filed with the court, with his lawyers, and at his home and in the safebox, are gone. He'll never remember her or you. Bella is your daughter, and what you want for her will be the rule of law, not what Damian would have wanted."

"So even after I told you to leave me alone, that I wasn't yours to save, you did it anyway."

"No, actually. I saved Bella. She called of her own free will and her own choice. What I chose to do was give Bella and you a single chance to make another choice, and that was whether or not Bella would have her Mummy as well as her grandparents. Under the statutes – you can be obliviated too, for the protection of the child. That's up to you – and Bella – to decide. Whether you hold it against me or not is irrelevant. I told you no child should grow up that way. I grew up in an abusive environment", and with this Harry's voice grew ragged "and damn you for even thinking I'd walk away with another child in danger.

Harry continued on, looking away. "Neville and I have gone around the globe for almost ten years in one fashion or another, saving children from hopelessness, from suffering. It's never enough, but we've tried. To see your daughter in an abusive situation – I would have come years ago. Neville would have come years ago. And I assure you, Neville would have done the same as me, I've asked."

Staring back at Hermione, Harry finally asked, "Why, why did you let him hit you. Why did you let your daughter, the most precious gift I can imagine, live in that house after the first time you were struck. What in the name of Merlin possessed you sufficiently to not turn him into a slug the first time he even touched you wrong?"

Hermione, tears streaking down her face, finally choked out "Because you didn't love me enough to take me with you. I wasn't good enough to tell. I wasn't strong enough to take."

Blood thundered in Harry's ears, rage took him over. "I was NEVER as strong as you, ever. If I'd told you, if I thought I had a reason to stay, to live, I could never have put my life on the line to kill Voldemort, to slaughter the covens that formed after his death, to work as a Hit-Wizard for the ICW. I left you because you were my hope and my purpose and I wasn't strong enough to risk you, and not strong enough to live without you if you got hurt – and not strong enough to love you and still go into battle to die. I wanted you safe, so when I returned I had something bright and shining. Instead my world was ashes and dust, that of my enemies, until the day I found you again in Africa. And you want to lay your abuse, the abuse of your daughter, your years of pain, at MY feet?"

With a deafening crack and a flash of flame, Harry vanished from her bedside. The wards around the old castle groaned as he apparated out of her sight.

"Well now, that could have gone better, don't you think?" said Madam Pomfrey tartly, offering Hermione another dose of potions.

Dr. Elinore Granger had seen many wonders in her years of life, but she had never seen a young man pop out of thin air in her office before. What did they call it, Apparition, Apparation, something. Nonetheless, she remembered that shock of black hair very well, though the boy attached to it could no longer be called a boy. He looked rather angry, but Elinore Granger couldn't imagine a reason why she should be worried.

"And what brings you to Granger and Granger, Mr. Potter? I assume it's not your bicuspids", Elinore Granger managed to get out without a stammer.

"I have something for you, Mrs. Granger. Something I hope that you're going to want very much." He held out a long manila envelope to her, which she opened carefully.

Inside were pictures of Bella from the restaurant, her granddaughter. Tears pooled in her eyes and streamed down her face unbidden and unheeded.

"They're here, Mrs. Granger. Your daughter, and your granddaughter, are at Hogwarts right now. And if you'll cancel your afternoon appointments, I'll take you and your husband to your granddaughter. We need to talk along the way, do you mind if I drive?"

Though Elinore Granger and her husband both knew the drive to be about ten hours long to Scotland, Harry's time at the wheel of their vehicle was far shorter. In less than two hours they had covered almost 600 miles on the normal roads, arriving in the Wizarding village of Hogsmeade.

"So just to summarize, Drs. Granger, you'll be the official guardians of Isabella Conaghan until the ICW clears Hermione Conaghan nee Granger for custody. You will require one wizarding guarding to be named at a future date. It can be me, but I don't think that's what Hermione will want. I can suggest several of Hermione's friends who would also stand up for her and her daughter."

As wizards and witches in Hogsmeade peered out at the car arriving in their little hamlet, Harry opened the door and got out. As a known wizard, everyone was curious about what was going on, but no longer worried about calling in the Aurors for Muggles in their village.

After a quick spell to let the Grangers see the wizarding town and Hogwarts, Harry led the Drs. Granger to the Three Broomsticks and to a table in the corner, where they gaped at the rustic nature that wizardkind seemed to live in – and were the recipients of several curious gazes themselves.

"Rosmerta, are you back there?" Harry called.

"Here, here, who's yelling… Ah, Harry Potter. Have you finally come to make an honest woman of me and keep me from shame?"

Patrons around the bar chortled loudly, but Harry was willing to share in the fun for the sake of keeping the peace and the favor he needed.

"Rosmerta, my darling, unless you're ashamed of yourself now and then, you're not an honest woman!" Harry rejoined.

As the patrons banged their glasses on the table, Rosmerta tried to keep the smirk off her face and then said, "Alright, alright, he wins that round. Come here, Potter, and let's see what you really were after."

A quiet conversation established an unknown term of stay for the two muggles as well as food and drink and some possible late night comings and goings against Harry's tab. A quick peck on the cheek from Harry to Rosmerta sealed the deal.

Returning to the table, Harry said "Rosmerta will gladly put you both up for a few days so you can visit Hermione and Bella. Food's arranged. If you're not too hungry right now, though, we can go visit."

Food was a poor substitute for the Granger's emotional hunger.

While it seemed to take forever to the Granger's, they were finished with the short walk between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, following the well-worn path that hundreds of students had trodden. As they passed through the gates and walked towards the gatekeeper's cottage, Elinore Granger finally asked Harry the question that had been bothering her.

"Why did you do all this, Harry? Why hunt for her, why not give it up? Why put yourself through that catastrophe in Africa? Why give him a chance at all to live?"

She saw a melancholy smile grace Harry's face for the second time today, and the first time from the pub in Hogsmeade. "Because I used to think that if the roles were reversed Hermione would have done it for me. And because I couldn't leave Bella there, in a situation like I was. And because it was the right thing to do, aside from letting that slime live."

They knocked at Hagrid's house quietly, and the door creaked quietly open.

"That you there, then, Harry?"

"Yes Hagrid, how are we doing?"

"Fine, fine. Keep it quiet now, she's all in for a kip, and the krups too. Come in a mo' and have a look."

With the Drs. Granger exchanging whispers of "krups?" they all trooped quietly through the door and found a sleeping Bella in the midst of a pile of puppies.

"Mr. Hagrid, you said Krups… I see dogs. What are krups?"

"The dogs are the krups. Look at their tails; you'll see the difference. Other than that, same disposition, same ball o' fun for little kids."

"I knew you were the right place for her to be today, Hagrid. How's she doing?"

"Oh she's fine, just fine. She tired out early, bless 'er. And she mentioned something about a Billy a few times, and how he'd be wanting to see these. Think she's got a crush 'er something. Didn't break down or nothin'. Wanted to see her Mummy a few times, but I figured that could wait until you got the Grangers and 'splained a few things to 'em. You want to let 'er sleep it off here or take 'er back with you to the castle?"

"If there's quarters for her at the castle, I'd like her up there for the morning, Hagrid."

"Oh yeah, McGonagall was right chuffed to have Hermione back. The Tower's open and everything, password's 'homecomin'. Get the elves to put her in the First Years dorm. Students are gone for summer, o' course, but you can kip in the common room. Wouldn't be the first time. The elves'll sort 'er out in the morning fer the loo and gettin' her down to you for breakfast."

"That'll be perfect Hagrid. Care to help us carry her up there?"

"Errr, Harry", broke in Daniel Granger, "if you wouldn't mind too terribly, let us take her instead of Mr. Hagrid?"

A smile broke out on Hagrid's face. "It's fine wit' me, o' course. Bit o' a climb the first little bit there, I'll come along in case."

Wrapping Bella up in his old moleskin coat, the group slowly carried the sleeping girl – and a tightly cuddled krup – up to Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione awoke the next morning to see the faces of her parents sitting beside her in the Hospital Wing.

"Mum? Dad! What are you doing here?"

"Harry came and got us yesterday, and told us what was going on. We came for you, and for Bella, and to take you home when you're ready."

Hermione erupted into tears, her mother quickly hugging her tightly and joining in with quiet tears.

After several minutes, Hermione and her mother broke apart.

"But where's Bella?" asked Hermione. "I haven't seen her since I woke up."

"Hermione", broke in her father, "it's nothing nefarious. She was tired out last night by the time we got here. We checked in on you and you were on something called Dreamless Sleep – I need some for the practice if it works that well. She's – where did he say – in Gryffindor Tower, and Harry will bring her this morning after breakfast."

Smiling with satisfaction, Daniel Granger also wanted to add that his granddaughter likely had a dog in tow, revenge for having to take in the flat-faced furball who still stole his bacon, a smile that made his daughter and wife look at him quite strangely.

Having captured Bella – and a small krup -- coming down the stairs of Gryffindor Tower and after taking them on a short tour of Hogwarts on the way to the kitchen for breakfast, Harry and Bella were now walking slowly up to the Hospital Wing.

"What if they don't like me, Harry?" asked Bella worriedly.

"Bella, I can promise you, they like you. They got in a car with a wizard they haven't seen in almost ten years and drove 600 miles – rather quickly – to stay in a wizarding pub just so they can meet you today, talk to you, love you. You're their family. I promise you, they like you and will keep on liking you."

"What about Snuffles?"

"How do you… ah, the krup. Did you name him?" asked Harry, catching on.

"Yes, Mummy used to tell me stories about a dog she loved named Snuffles. I thought I'd like one too."

"Did Hagrid tell you that naming a krup means he's your pet?" asked Harry, amusedly.

"No! Does that mean I can keep him?" squealed Bella.

"It's too late for anything else, Bella. Once a magical pet is named they're yours for life. It's strange, but true."

Finally they arrived at the Hospital Wing door. Harry opened the door and gestured for Bella and Snuffles to enter in front of him. The happy screams of welcome he heard was all the confirmation he needed. He closed the door behind him and slowly walked from the castle. At the gates, he apparated away. He had one more lost pup to pick up.

Nine months later:

"Is it finally over now, Neville?" asked Hermione, as Neville reviewed an ICW owl.

"Yes, Hermione, congratulations. The ICW has cleared you of any charges, you are once again the legal – and sole – guardian of Bella Conaghan, you are declared fit by St. Mungo's, and Bella Conaghan is enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after she turns 11. I am likewise notified that the ICW has taken care of the paperwork for Billy and your parents, and Billy is now officially William Granger."

"Thanks again for volunteering to be the wizard guardian while all of this went on, Neville. You're a good friend."

"I'm not the only one, Hermione. I should have helped him find you years ago."

"I know, Neville. But I don't know how to help him get past what I did – and what he did. He loves Bella, I think he still loves me, but I don't know if there will ever be an 'us'. I haven't even seen him in months. He's been back with the ICW for something he won't talk about."

"Ah, well, I can tell you what it is, it isn't secret. He just wasn't sure you would want to know – or should. As part of his ICW responsibilities he has to check in on Damian from time to time. I think he's also finishing up at the orphanage and helping Dr. McGraw finish the paperwork for annual funding going forward, to help them keep up to date and expand."

"But what's he got to do with Damian?" asked Hermione.

"You have to understand, Hermione. Obliviation is difficult and sometimes slippery. The subject sometimes tries to break it. Damian never has, but it happens. Remember the story you told me about Barty Crouch, Sr. and Imperius? It's the same kind of thing. A strong enough will and it becomes an issue. The ICW keeps tabs on all of these occurrences and just checks in every now and again to make sure everything is still as it should be. Harry was worried, for both Bella and you, and so he offered to take the first pass at Damian. After the confrontation at your house, Harry visiting himself might break it."

"You say there's a patient here, a Mr. Harry Potter, and he's showing signs of St. Louis Encephalitis? In Africa?" asked Damian, incredulously.

"Unfortunately so, Mr. Conaghan", said the nurse, bumping against Damian as she took him to the patient care unit.

"Let's see what the trouble is then, Mr… Potter…", stammered Damian. "Have we met before? I seem to recall your face."

"It was a few months ago, Dr. Conaghan, at a fund-raiser. You were telling me about France." Harry faked weakness in his voice and clutched at his head, but worried a bit. Remembering the Obliviator was somewhat a necessary evil, the mind had to have a focus to grasp at. It depended on the story to see if the subject remembered the story – or the reality.

"Ah yes, dreadful time I had in France. Drank too much one night, ended up in jail. Felt it was better to leave the country after that, didn't want to pollute my image. Lesson well learned at any rate. Well, let's get you straightened out."

Damian probed his patient, took blood samples, and made his prescriptions. "Mr. Potter, I think you'll be out of here in just a few days. The nursing staff will take good care of you, and if you take another turn I'll check in on you in a few days."

Turning away, Damian Conaghan wandered back to his other patients, chilled slightly, as if something had just walked over his grave.

The hospital unexpectedly had a free bed later that night as Harry left via unconventional methods.

"She's gorgeous, Neville. Congratulations to you and Hannah both."

"Thanks Harry, I was wondering if I could ask a favor for Gabrielle."

"Sure Neville, what do you need?"

Neville looked Harry in the eye and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, she needs a Godfather. Would you stand up for her, and for me?"

Harry stood up straight and responded without hesitation. "I'd be honored, Neville."

"Ceremony's Sunday, if you can make it?"

"I'll be there."

Harry dressed carefully. Wizarding ceremonies like this weren't uncommon, but they were formal and it was important to Harry to stand for Neville. Neville had done so much for him the last few months.

Arriving at the baptism, he wasn't surprised to see Bella and Billy together, but was surprised to see Hermione at the font with Neville and Hannah and Gabrielle and a twinkling Dumbledore.

"Albus, it's good to see you here. I thought you were away in Egypt, looking at Bill's tomb."

"Ah, Harry, I thought it would be a good time to celebrate life and all its wonder. I've missed England anyway", Dumbledore leaned close to share the next few words, "they don't have a good confectioner in Egypt, I must say."

Hugging Neville and giving Gabrielle and Hannah each a short kiss, Harry turned to greet Hermione, who was glaring at Neville, who was likewise smiling unrepentantly.

"Neville, you set us up. At a christening!" gritted out Hermione.

"Nonsense, Hermione. We asked the two people we admire most to stand up for our child together."

"Neville!" stamped Hermione. "You know what the ceremony is!"

Harry stared around somewhat confusedly. This was his first christening, after all. Turning to Hermione, as he hadn't done for ten years, he quietly asked "and this means?"

"Oh Harry! We stand here and hold hands and pledge to work together in love and care to look after Gabrielle! These conniving, scheming…" Hermione ran on and on through a long series of degrading terms.

Seeing her in a passion for the first time in months, Harry finally sloughed off most of his pain. Taking her hands, he looked her in the eye, kissed her softly on the cheek, and said, "So we pledge to care for Gabrielle. Anything more is up to us. And maybe, just maybe, we'll be a good example – together – for her too. If you're willing."

Blushing back, surprised, Hermione finally stammered out, "I'd like to try that."

Taking his place beside Neville, Harry bumped him and whispered, "You're evil, you know."

Neville calmly responded "And you both needed me to be."

Fin.


End file.
